This invention relates to foldable high chairs and more particularly, to high chairs, the detachable seat portion of which may be adaptable to overlie a table with gripping members forming a supporting portion of a tray structure gripping bottom and top surfaces of the table. A latch extending between the gripping members and the back of the baby seat latch the gripping members and tray in position on the edge of the table.
The infant high chair came into use as a child rearing aid and is intended to introduce young children into the social activities of the family meal.
As families became more mobile, the need for the child's comfort and the convenience in caring for it became more important. The infant high chair was conceived and is a prime example of the kind of furniture needed for this purpose. These high chairs are essentially a small chair mounted on longer than usual legs so that the child and high chair could be placed close to a table to enable the child to eat with adults.
The addition of a tray on the high chair made it possible to place the child in any convenient location at feeding time. Initially, the tray was a permanent part of the high chair, swinging over the child's head so that he or she might be placed on the seat.
The most common current style of infant high chair is of a folding design with metal tubular legs and a removable tray made of metal or plastic. This type of furniture is a fixture since using it requires floor space and transporting it is awkward since even in its folded state it is bulky and hard to handle.
Hook-on baby seats are known for fastening to the edge of a table, but have the deficiency of being a single purpose piece of furniture.
The alternative to the individual high chair and the individual hook-on baby seat is a dual purpose high chair and detachable baby seat which functions equally well as a high chair and as a separate hook-on baby seat.
The hook-on baby seat may be easily transported and serve its function without the need of transporting the leg structure of the high chair. Since not all tables will accept a clamping device on its edge, the attachment means of a hook-on baby seat for gripping the edge of the table must compensate for this limitation.
Accordingly, a need exists for a freestanding table-top high chair, the infant seat of which may be readily detached and used as a hook-on baby seat independently of the legs of the high chair and then quickly reassembled as a high chair when so desired.